Moisture-management rapidly accumulates increased interest in high-tech textile industry as an important factor in recreational as well as customary garments and apparels. The need for fast drying type fabrics, especially for athletic purposes, has so far been satisfied with the use of synthetic hydrophobic materials that do not absorb moisture. However, the ability to control perspiration absorption, transport, and evaporation off skin tissue through apparels, made of natural hydrophilic materials, especially ones as cotton, to the atmosphere enables their use in areas traditionally governed by the synthetic fabrics.
Moisture-management is defined in the Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, Vol. 2, Issue 3, Summer 2002, as “the controlled movement of water vapor and liquid water (perspiration) from the surface of the skin to the atmosphere through the fabric”. Although mostly referred to perspiration, this term may be more broadly related to release of liquid, secreted from different body organs through skin tissue, and its subsequent transport and removal.
Cotton fabrics are well known to impart a more pleasant feeling upon contact with skin tissue, and are mostly preferred due to either their natural origin or other superior qualities over synthetic fibers. However, being essentially of hydrophilic nature, they are known to absorb liquids secreted through skin tissue, and release them only too slowly into the atmosphere, especially when a wearer is being engaged with excessive physical activity. These features produce a heavy apparel when wet, which imparts an uncomfortable wet and sticky sensation to the wearer. Additional effects are the limiting of one's motion, and induction of a cold feeling during recess.
Several approaches are known to date in processing hydrophilic fabrics, e.g., cotton, into fast drying type. Drying rate of cotton fabrics with reduced thickness turned to be equal to that of polyester fabrics. Other solutions employed the use of blends of cotton and synthetic fibers, e.g., cotton/polyester, cotton/nylon, or cotton/polypropylene, hydrophobic backing layers as silicone, or waxes on the fabric side, which is close to the skin, or scouring, bleaching, and finishing of 100% cotton fabrics (for the last approach see, Moisture Management: Myths, Magic and Misconceptions, William A Rearick, Vikki B. Martin, and Michele L. Wallace, Cotton Incorporated, Cary, N.C.).
Moisture-management in hydrophilic fabrics is translated into a wicking process of the liquid absorbed, in which a spontaneous transport of the liquid is driven through pores and spaces in the fabric by capillary forces. The surface tension of the liquid causes a pressure difference across the curved liquid-air (vapor) giving a liquid movement. Wicking is also affected by the morphology of the fiber surface, and may be affected by the shape of the fibers. The rate of wicking is affected by the size and geometry of the capillary spaces between fibers. Therefore, wicking can be improved by changing the fiber surface by absorption of surfactant.
Although the aforementioned detailed reference relates mostly to cotton, the inventive concept of the present invention applies equally to other raw materials, from which man-made fibers, yarns, and various types of fabrics, garments, and apparels may be produced. Cotton and cellulose, the latter also having hydrophilic tendency and good water absorption similar to that of cotton, are good examples of raw materials from which moisture-management improved man-made fibers may be produced. Such man-made fibers are, therefore, good potential candidates for the fabrication of improved moisture-management textile products according to the teaching of the present invention, while sustaining their other virtues essentially unaffected. In its broader scope, the present invention, therefore, relates also to man-made yarns and fabrics and end-uses thereof, which are made of essentially hydrophilic materials, and which are of improved moisture-management qualities according to the teaching of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a process for the manufacture of yarns and fabrics with improved moisture-management performance.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the manufacture of fabrics possessing improved performance of moisture-absorption, moisture-transportation, and moisture-evaporation.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the manufacture of fabrics with improved wicking effect.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the manufacture of modified encapsulated fibers within a fabric.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a nano technology process for the manufacture of silicone-encapsulated fibers in a fabric, where the silicone encapsulation is of particulate form of nano-scale size, and therefore the encapsulation being applied include nano chemistry process.
In still another object of the present invention the fabrics and fibers thus manufactured are of surface area and morphology that while being silicon-encapsulated improved, their moisture-management and wicking are improved.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide silicon-encapsulated fibers in a fabric, where the encapsulation includes a nano technology chemistry.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide fabrics comprising silicone-encapsulated fibers.
In still another object of the present invention the fabrics comprising silicone-encapsulated fibers for moisture-management improvement comprise woven, non-woven, textured, or knitted forms.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide garment and textile articles comprising silicone-encapsulated fibers imparting more comfortable sensation upon use, and improved moisture-management, wicking, transportation, and evaporation.
In still another aspect of the present invention the fibers, yarns, fabrics, and end-uses textiles thereof, are essentially made of hydrophilic materials, which are good water absorbents. Particularly, the fibers, yarns, and fabrics of the present invention are either cotton or man-made cotton or cellulose fibers, yarns and fabrics, respectively.
In one preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a process for the manufacture of silicon-encapsulated cotton yarns and fabrics with improved moisture-management performance, the moisture-management being expressed in moisture-absorption, moisture-transportation, i.e., wicking, and moisture-evaporation.
In a second preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a process for the manufacture of silicone-encapsulated man-made cotton or cellulose yarns and fabrics with improved moisture-management performance, the moisture-management being expressed in moisture-absorption, moisture-transportation, i.e., wicking, and moisture-evaporation.